Han Gunship
A brand-new addition to the PLA's air arm, this helicopter sports inter-meshing counter-rotating rotor blades which give it a highly unique design. It is armed with twin anti-tank cannons instead of the anti-tank missiles and rockets commanders have traditionally become very familiar with. These cannons can be replaced with heavy flamethrowers. It fills a common role - devastating threats on the ground, particularly armored ones - but it both accomplishes the task in an astonishingly potent fashion and looks like nothing else out there while doing it. The Han can be further upgraded with special armaments Such as the Nuclear Weapon Loadout, EMP Weapon Loadout and the Flamethrower Weapon Loadout. Lore As China had learned in their previous conflicts, fighting an enemy in remote and inaccessible locations was difficult using their largely conventional armored forces. As such a design was drawn up for a well armed and armored attack helicopter which copied heavily from Russian gunships of the previous century and was designated Type-102 "HAN" by the PLA design committee. After some other trivial issues were solved (the rotor blades had the unfortunate tendency to snap off during turns) it was ready for service. The protracted development period paid off; troops in remote areas suddenly had the equivalent of a heavily armored flying tank supporting them. The 100mm guns punched through the roof armor of tanks with ease, and the helicopter had enough ammunition to provide fire support over the battlefield for hours. Unit Description The Han is a tier one gunship, fielded by Special Weapons General Mau, buildable at the Airfield. The Han can be considered a lighter counterpart of the Helix helicopter, as like that other helicopter it can be upgraded with three different weapons fulfilling three different purposes. They are the EMP Loadout, Nuke Loadout and Napalm Loadout. The EMP Loadout is perfect against vehicles, as the EMP shells shortly disable the vehicles. More Hans working on the same target can disable the vehicle quicker. The EMP shells also work on structures, and anti-air batteries sitting alone should be an easy target to destroy. This loadout also arms the Han with free falling EMP bombs that instantly disables any vehicle or structure caught in its blast radius. The Nuke Loadout adds a considerable more punch to the Han, making if effective at taking out large groups of units and structures. The miniature nuke missiles travel slower than the shells, although they can easily destroy most light vehicles and considerably damage heavier ones. The nukes also of course leave behind a small radiation field that damages infantry and slowly corrodes vehicles. However, sometimes, only one missile is enough to destroy a target, the Han fires both because the first one does not have enough time to hit the target before the other one is fired, so it is advised you cancel the attack order as soon as one missile is away. The Flamethrower Loadout makes the Han an infantry units' worst nightmare. The gunship's guns are replaced with dual flamethrowers, very effective against infantry and garrisons. With the Black Napalm upgrade, the napalm does 25% more damage and can be a concern for even heavier vehicles without air cover. Although these flamethrowers do shorten the Han's range and makes it more vulnerable to anti-air defenses. This loadout also arms the Han with free falling napalm bombs that instantly triggers firestorm on impact. With no upgrade, the Han works good as an anti-vehicle gunship, but it can also kill infantry very easily. Tactics The EMP Loadout is perfect against vehicles, as the EMP shells shortly disable the vehicles. More Hans working on the same target can disable the vehicle quicker. The EMP shells also work on structures. The Flamethrower Loadout makes the Han an infantry units' worst nightmare. The gunship's guns are replaced with dual flamethrowers, very effective against infantry and garrisons. The Nuke Loadout adds a considerable more punch to the Han, making if effective at taking out large groups of units and structures. Counters The Han has one bad drawback though: no air defense. The Han is currently the only helicopter for China, and is thus extremely vulnerable to aircraft. The ECA, GLA, Russia and USA all have some form of anti-air helicopter, making the Han no match in air-to-air combat. The Han could be assisted by Propaganda Airships though, but they provide little air cover. The Han loadouts are also less effective against other forms of units. The flamethrowers are not strong against structures, and the nukes are virtually useless or self-damaging when it comes to attacking units inside your base since the nukes will damage friendly units/structures. It is also to be noted that the Han is not the toughest gunship, having considerably light armor and can thus be easily brought down by ranged anti-air units. The Grumble is extremely good at this. Trivia *The Han Gunship's intermeshing counter rotating rotor blades are employed on real-life Kaman Husky helicopters. Similar blade design is used for the Twinblade helicopter in Red Alert 3. *The Han Gunship uses the Voice set from the Striker VX From Red Alert 3. Gallery Han.png|From top to bottom - Han Gunships with EMP, Napalm and Nuke loadout Category:People's Republic of China Category:Helicopters Category:PRC aircraft‎